3:31 This life is very…6:48 Remember in abundance…12:59 so therefore a…
Death & the hereafterFrom the masjid's own video, Jul 31, 2026.

Prepare to meet Allah before death

Iowa City Mosque

“This life is very brief and does not last and the hereafter is everlasting and it does not end.”

The khateeb, at 3:31

Watch the khutbahFamily kit
In one sentence

Because life is brief and death is inevitable yet unknown in time and place, believers should prepare to meet Allah through sincere faith, beneficial knowledge, repentance, obedience, and lawful living.

The khutbah in 6 steps

  1. Life is a test in which deeds and intentions are judged, while the hereafter is everlasting.
  2. The prophetic finger-in-the-sea analogy shows how insignificant worldly life is beside the hereafter.
  3. Remembering death helps believers remain steadfast and avoid negligence.
  4. Since death's time and place are decreed, the crucial concern is one's spiritual state when death arrives.
  5. Lawful marriage, food, rest, and recreation can support worship when guided by sincere intention and Allah's limits.
  6. Believers should fear a bad ending, seek piety, and ask Allah for goodness in both lives.
Try this week
Remember death frequently.
Learn what Allah loves and strive to implement it.
Learn what Allah dislikes and strive to avoid it.
Repent to Allah while there is still opportunity.
Maintain sincere faith, daily obligations, obedience, and submission.
Use lawful worldly activities with an intention to support worship and seek Allah's pleasure.
Sources the khateeb cited
Quran 84:6Frames human life as laboring toward a meeting with the Lord.
Sahih MuslimUses the finger-in-the-sea parable to show the world's insignificance beside the hereafter.
Jami` at-TirmidhiUrges abundant remembrance of death as the one that severs pleasures.
Quran 4:78States that death overtakes people wherever they are, even in fortified buildings.
Quran 62:8Says the death people flee will meet them and they will return to Allah for accounting.
Quran 31:34Supports that no soul knows in which land it will die.
Jami` at-TirmidhiExplains that Allah may create a need leading a person to the land where death is decreed.
Quran 2:197Presents taqwa as the best provision for the journey to the hereafter.
Quotes

In the khateeb's words

“This life is very brief and does not last and the hereafter is everlasting and it does not end.”
Iowa City Mosque · Iowa City, IA
Play from 3:31
“Remember in abundance the one that severs all pleasures.”
Iowa City Mosque · Iowa City, IA
Play from 6:48
“so therefore a believer he will take from this life that which is lawful and that which is permissible and he'll use that to reach the home and the hereafter and the pleasure of Allah”
Iowa City Mosque · Iowa City, IA
Play from 12:59
Talk about it at home

For the dinner table

The khutbah reminds us that this life is a short journey and that every person will meet Allah with their deeds and intentions. Since nobody knows when or where death will come, we should prepare through sincere faith, learning guidance from the Qur'an and Sunnah, obedience, and repentance. We should not abandon every lawful joy; marriage, food, rest, and recreation can support worship when our intentions are for Allah and we stay within His limits. The goal is to live so that death finds us faithful to Allah, following the Prophet's way, and obedient rather than negligent or sinful. We can ask Allah for a good ending and for goodness in this life and the next.

  1. What is one daily activity you could do with a more sincere intention for Allah?
  2. What helps you remember that life is temporary without losing hope?
  3. What would it mean to prepare for meeting Allah this week?
Where it was given

The masjid

Iowa City Mosque (Masjid Al-Iman)1812 W Benton St, Iowa City, IA 52246
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